Mind Ball by David Regal

MIND BALL is a custom-made Magic 8 Ball-type device that allows for a routine that combines solid amazement with built-in amusement. It just may be the ultimate party trick, but I've performed it as part of a formal close-up act and as a bar magic item - wherever you have a group of people, you can perform MIND BALL.

The Effect:

Two spectators - one male and one female - select cards from an examined and shuffled deck using what appear to be ultra-fair conditions. The magician does not touch the deck during this process. The male spectator is left with a card in front of him, the female spectator with a card in front of her. They concentrate on their cards, and the MIND BALL not only reveals which cards were selected, but whose is whose!

Throughout this participatory routine the ball can be passed around, reading the minds of people in the audience, as when it is not revealing a card it is saying something amusing. Click below to see the promo video for MIND BALL...

MIND BALL does not cost hundreds of dollars because there are no electronics... you "ride the ball" as one random phrase after another appears in the window until both selections have been revealed. The trick is extremely easy to do, and exceptionally baffling, but its greatest attribute is the solid entertainment value that is produced by MIND BALL.